


This Silence Will Kill You

by Sundriedlilies



Category: Once Upon A Time - Fandom
Genre: AU, Angst, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-22 03:50:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16590335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sundriedlilies/pseuds/Sundriedlilies
Summary: Her heart felt heavier than it probably should have felt. "The focus is on me, Emma Swan, to not break your heart. The pressure behind that is unreal sometimes, and try as I might to spare you, I cannot. I will break your heart somehow, it's inevitable... But that doesn't mean you have to go breaking mine too."...So this was it then, the pivotal moment she had been expecting. The moment when all of Emma’s suspicions were confirmed and it turned out that Regina was indeed the bad guy after all.





	This Silence Will Kill You

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know if this is any good. I’ve just been in dire need of a break from my studies and somehow this story resurfaced. I had posted it before but it went nowhere so I tweaked it and now this is the monster it’s become. Be forewarned that it’s angsty. And all mistakes are mine. I will retouch the story for grammatical errors soon, I just wanted to put something creative out into the world. Just need a break from all the academic writing. But enough blabbing, please enjoy.

**The** **Middle**

 

“You're very secretive you know?" Regina let her eyes linger on the blonde before she realized that she herself was a bit and uncharacteristically nervous, so she let her eyes roam until shefound something else appeasing enough to stare at. The car they were riding in was nice, in fact it was Regina's favorite, but it didn't offer much for her to look at, and so she was forced to stare at the pale hand placed softly in the spot between them.

 

Emma briefly looked perplexed. "Am I?"

 

"Yes." Regina stated without missing a beat. "I mean, we've been working together for eight months, and I don't even know where you're from, or what you want..." Emma's breath hitched as she stared into Regina's eyes. "What do you want, Ms. Swan?" She asked enticingly.

 

It was a question that caused Emma to do a bit of a double take. She hadn't even realized that Regina cared about her enough to ask a question of such magnitude. One that regarded her feelings.

 

"Uh..." She blew out a puff of air while simultaneously shaking her head. "I-I don't know... What do you want?"

 

Regina sent a fleeting gaze over to Emma before she raised her eyebrows and sucked in her bottom lip. "Well, I used to want to be admired..." Regina spoke smoothly as she looked into captivating green orbs that seemed to melt every time they made eye contact with one another.

 

"I admire you." Emma replied in a careful, yet confident way without ever missing a beat.

 

The brunette flashed the blonde a dazzling smile right before she stealthily turned her head to stare out the window. "Now, I want to be loved." She shrugged only one of her shoulders in a sort of bashful display of body language. Her words were meant for Emma but she spoke to the translucent glass partition. It was doing such an amazing job of keeping all of tensions inside the car and everything else outside.

 

"I..." She began confidently enough for Regina to think that maybe Emma was just about to reply on autopilot, not truly thinking of what she was saying, but her words died on her tongue, never having the chance to fully form on her lips. Emma's natural instinct was to please the other woman in any way that she needed to, but there were boundaries set to not be crossed. And Emma was unsure if this was one of them. Regina was the one making up all of the rules.

 

The brunette waited a beat and her eyes fluttered shut as she pursed her lips. Her hands were clasped together on her lap and her head was still turned to face the window.

 

With a deep breath she let herself have enough courage to face the undoubtedly confused woman sitting beside her. Regina did not think, and she most certainly did not open her eyes. She just... did.

 

She surged forward, heart spasming in her chest, and connected their lips.

 

Emma's brain took a second to realize what was going on as she sat completely still, eyes wide open and mouth unwavering as Regina kissed her. And even when she did realize what was going on, she still couldn't will herself to move. So she sat there and Regina sat there with their lips pressed together in the most awkward of kisses either of them had ever experienced. 

 

Emma thought that she may have possibly liked the idea of being intimate with Regina, but Regina was dangerous and when it really came down to it, Emma was no match for the other woman. The blonde would unequivocally fall in love with Regina and Regina would probably crush her... Actually, Regina Mills would definitely, undoubtedly break Emma Swan's heart. Because let's face it, a lion does not stalk its prey to spare it. A lion stalks its prey to kill it. And that's exactly what Regina was to Emma, a blood starved lion who was waiting to go in for the kill.

 

At the end of the day Emma Swan was the type to accidentally fall in love. While Regina Mills was the type who would let an innocent soul, such as Emma Swan, fall in love with her only to leave her with nothing but tear stained cheeks, and all the figurative scars on her heart to prove it.

 

So, the blonde sat frozen. She didn't even move when Regina pulled away. She studied her stricken face for a moment, but she quickly let her gaze fall to the floor of the car before Regina's eyes fluttered open again.

 

The brunette felt a tinge of embarrassment after putting herself out there and having had her attempt backfire in her face. She almost felt desperate enough to try it again, because as lackluster as it may have been, Regina knew that she wanted more of Emma Swan. She needed more of her, and Regina was willing to take her. To seize her in any way in which she may have her. 

 

But Regina practiced self control, she couldn't let her emotions get the better of her, especially when she was so very unsure of everything and if Emma was even worth her while.

 

So she smiled a witty smile to cover up her lustful gaze that fell upon the nerve ridden blonde. "Ms. Swan I expected more from you." She patronized and Emma knew her cheeks were tinted an angry shade of red in that moment.

 

"I..." She started lamely only to lose her train of thought.

 

"That's quite alright." Regina spoke while she studied every inch of the introvert in front of her. I will have you. She thought. By your choosing to let me, or by me finally breaking and taking you, because you're mine. "I was out of line catching you off guard like that... I hope I didn't scare you dear."

 

Emma's eyes darted up to meet Regina's and the blonde audibly gulped. She always felt so small around Regina, as if she was a mere peasant in the presence of royalty. "No" ma'am she almost added but instead she just shook her head slightly in an effort to sort of clear her mind as well as to give an answer. "I- it was fine."

 

Regina's lips curved upwards into a wicked grin. "Perhaps, next time, I can expect better effort then?"

 

Emma wasn't ready for that question. She didn't expect Regina to want to do it again, but she did want to, and Emma simply did not know how to react to that. She only knew that everything, in this moment, was wrong. Completely and utterly wrong. From the way that Regina looked at her as if she could devour her, own her, to the way Emma avoided looking at Regina all together as if she were weak enough to let her. It was wrong on many different levels in her mind, yet there was the tiniest voice in the depths of her thoughts that told her, for some reason that she had been wanting this to happen, and for sometime now. It was a mystery to Emma, how that small voice seemed to rang louder than all of the red flags and alarms going off in her head telling her that this was a bad idea.

 

"Of course." She breathed trying to hide the fact that her hands were shaking terribly by shoving them under her legs. Emma was inexcusably anxious.

 

"Good." Regina eyed the woman. "Now gather yourself. We won't be able to impress anyone at this cocktail party if you walk into it looking as if you're about to vomit." This was Regina, her boss talking again, not the Regina who had just kissed her. "Business functions, such as this one can be very intimidating, so you have to walk in exuding confidence or else they will eat you alive. Got it?"

 

The blonde's eyes fluttered as she dry swallowed. "Yes."

 

"There is one prospect that would be great for our company."

 

"Mr. Gold?" Emma inquired and Regina nodded resolutely in response.

 

"Yes, Emma you get him to sign on with us, well then darling you've guaranteed yourself a position at my company and you've earned a much fancier title."

 

The blonde knew the severity of the situation. She knew that her fate would be sealed after tonight. She was either going to wake up in the morning extremely happy or extremely depressed and out of options. Not only did she have to worry about her own future, but also the future of Regina's company and Regina's future rested in the upcoming events of tonight. To simply say Emma was feeling the pressure would be an understatement, because truthfully the pressure was manifesting and growing inside of her.

 

"Not to worry, dear. I have complete faith in you." Regina said clearly sensing the way the blonde tensed in her seat. "I chose you, after all."

 

Emma glanced at her boss and thought, briefly, that maybe Regina was going to kiss her again, but she was endlessly thankful when that didn't happen.

 

"I chose you over everyone, over people who have worked with me for years, over people whom I'm confident could get the job done effortlessly. I overlooked all of them and I chose you to accompany me tonight, and do you know why that is?"

 

Her looks were too enticing. Emma struggled to find only one thing to be nervous about.

 

"Why?"

 

A perfectly manicured eyebrow lifted and Regina sat up a bit more straight. "Because you have something, Ms. Swan— you’re special..." She said softly, but nothing about the way in which it was said was soft.

 

In fact Emma could not verbally describe the way Regina spoke to her if she wanted to. She could only describe the shiver that ran down her spine, the way her hands shook, the goosebumps on the back of her neck or the way she struggled to form coherent sentences when she was meant to respond.

 

"I- thank you, Ms. Mills."

 

"Oh, don't thank me yet, darling, after all there is nothing to thank me for... Just don't disappoint me." She responded lowly.

 

 _Don't_ _disappoint_. _Don't_ _disappoint_. _Don't_ _disappoint._

 

Emma had been chanting that phrase repeatedly in her head well before they had that conversation, well before they finally made it to the cocktail party and well before she approached Mr. Gold offering him an extended hand and a welcoming smile while Regina watched from afar.

 

In fact the very first time she found herself chanting the mantra was the very first time she walked into Regina's office, eight months ago, hoping to be a potential prospect for the Sumner internship program that was being offered.

 

And well... She hadn’t been a disappointment yet.

 

"The way you watch her... It's terribly sensuous. Hm, I'd even go as far as to say longing. Do you fancy her?"

 

Regina didn't flinch, didn't stop sipped at her wine, didn't stop staring at Emma who was interacting with Mr. Gold. In fact she was completely unfazed by the newcomer.

 

"One might even get the wrong idea about you two. You've been spending an awful amount of time together. Not involved with your intern are you?"

 

That peeved her, yet Regina was all about tact, never give your opponent the satisfaction. "You know, Maleficent, I never pegged you for a gossip. You just don't seem like the type." 

 

Maleficent shrugged as she tilted her head, gazing at the way Mr. Gold smiled at Emma. "Maybe you were on to something when you brought her here. Everyone thought you were being a little... Presumptuous." She hid behind her glass as she drank the bitter content. "She has virtually no experience. I could've made a laundry list of people that were more qualified to get the job done before her."

 

"As could I." Regina nodded curtly. "But everyone starts somewhere."

 

"Of course, but one would think you'd be a little more careful with your decisions regarding the future of your company. You know that if she doesn't pull through with this deal, that's it for you." Maleficent pressed.

 

"I didn't know you cared so much." Regina stated absentmindedly while keeping her eyes on Emma. From the looks of it all the exchange looked to be going rather well. Regina knew that Emma could do this, so Maleficent's attempt to try and scare her or whatever it was that she was attempting to do was simply done in vain.

 

"I couldn't care less actually. But for some odd reason I do feel bad for that poor girl. Whatever, you're doing, going to do to her... I feel bad for her."

 

That caused Regina to break her focus, momentarily, and send a glare towards the women standing so closely beside her. That seemed to be the reaction Maleficent longed for. The blonde reveled in the way she could get Regina all riled up. "Who knew you had a heart?"

 

"Well not all of us are like you sugar."

 

"I've just been reminded of how much I hate it when you call me that, and when you meddle in my personal business."

 

Maleficent scoffed and considered that statement for a moment. "I may have actually considered entertaining that if I weren't feeling so elevated from the wine." She smirked before slightly raising her glass. Regina noticed how Maleficent's eyes darted to the left of her, but the blonde had already side stepped her before she ever had the chance to see what had gotten the other woman's attention. "Hello, my name is Maleficent." She said pleasantly. "I'm sure Regina has told you much about me. I'm her-"

 

"Biggest competitor." Regina quickly interjected somehow knowing that it was Emma standing behind her. "And someone you should make slight work of getting to know." Regina practically growled.

 

"I wasn't going to say that, but it'll do." Maleficent mumbled coyly before taking a healthy gulp of her wine.

 

Regina rolled her eyes before focusing completely on Emma. "Well?" Her boss asked with very little patience.

 

"He wants to have a meeting with us on Tuesday morning at ten." Emma was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, and this was the part of Emma that Regina enjoyed. She had such childlike tendencies sometimes, it added to her innocent appeal. "He wants to hear about what we have to offer."

 

Regina didn't give the impression that she was relieved, or happy, or even that she was proud of Emma at all, even though she was all of those things. She never did show it. So after a moment of giddiness and self-pride Emma gathered herself remembering who she was dealing with and cleared her throat. "Sorry." She was feeling slightly embarrassed for letting herself slip.

 

"Well I do say, congratulations are in order for the both of you." Emma's eyes darted past Regina to Maleficent. The competitor. Emma knew nothing of her before tonight, she was rather intimidating as well, almost as intimidating as Regina. Almost.

 

"Thank you." Emma replied lowly before letting her gaze fall to the floor.

 

Regina regarded Emma's almost defeated like posture and tentatively without ever warning her, Regina reached out a clasped the blonde's forearm.

 

Emma's skin tingled in the spot where Regina's fingers were. "Let's go." Regina had whispered softly into her ear. It made the blonde look at Maleficent in embarrassment as if the other woman had heard the suggestive tone Regina had used. But even if Maleficent did hear what Regina whispered she was very good at pretending she didn't hear it, either that or she just didn't care.

 

"Okay." Emma nodded before Regina ungracefully began to pull her away. "Goodbye, Mal-"

 

"Slight work, Emma. We're done talking to her."

 

Emma swallowed the rest of her words and simply nodded. "Okay." Was her lame response once more.

 

 _Next_ _time_

 

Emma hadn't thought that the next time would be merely hours after only the first time. She didn't think that the next time would be a reward for snagging Mr. Gold. Emma didn't think she would be brought back to Regina's apartment and that the next time Regina Mills expected her to kiss her better, deeper, longer was actually right now.

 

The blonde struggled to keep up with much more aggressive brunette. She was concentrating way too much on the technical side of things rather than actually letting herself get swept away in the feeling of everything as she should have been. But there was just too much pressure on her. Pressure to perform, to please Regina.

 

Don't disappoint. Don't disappoint. Don't disappoint.

 

Emma watched as Regina's chest had risen and fell rhythmically. She couldn't help but notice the vast contrasts in Regina... This was her favorite version of the other woman. She liked the way the woman was finally still, the relaxed look on her face and the way she kept an arm possessively draped over Emma's midsection. It was placed so tenderly almost like she actually cared for Emma. But the blonde knew better than to run away with that thought.

 

She knew better. The sex they'd had was less than ideal. It was whatever Regina wanted, it was rough, and at times it hurt. Regina had been a selfish lover all the way up until the end. It wasn't until then that she bestowed one last soft kiss on Emma's lips and snuggled closer to her that Emma found pleasure. But that small moment before Regina fell asleep all tangled up in Emma, it was all the blonde needed to survive. To want more. She figured that if Regina was going to kill her this way, then perhaps it wouldn't be the worst way to die.

 

"You're going to break my heart someday." She didn't know why she said it, she just felt like she needed to, and so she did.

 

Then ever so carefully she untangled herself from Regina and slid from the warmth of the bed. She stood naked for a moment struggling to make out objects in the dark. Once all of her clothes were gathered and donned, she sent one last fleeting look at the sleeping beauty before she snuck away like a bandit in the night.

 

After hearing the unmistakable sound of her bedroom door click shut, Regina finally allowed herself to exhale. Her eyes fluttered open as she turned to lay on her side, facing the spot Emma had just abandoned.

 

Her heart felt heavier than it probably should have felt. "The focus is on me, Emma Swan, to not break your heart. The pressure behind that is unreal sometimes, and try as I might to spare you, I cannot. I will break your heart somehow, it's inevitable... But that doesn't mean you have to go breaking mine too."

 

X

 

 **The** **Beginning**

 

The beginning was barely the beginning at all. There was no obvious gazing, invading of her personal space, or the occasional glances down to her lips while she spoke. In fact, the first time Emma Swan had met Regina Mills, well, it had been at an interview, eight months ago, and again, that wasn't the beginning at all.

 

Their first time meeting one another was hardly anything spectacular. Emma was completely intimidated by Regina's personality, she found herself stumbling over her words, tripping over her own two feet, and completely failing to make any type of eye contact. And Regina, on the other hand, was utterly unimpressed with her new employee. Not with what Emma had to offer, because she seemed to have potential otherwise she wouldn't have been hired, but it was the way Emma carried herself. There was no confidence, and that put Regina off, almost to the point of disgust.

 

It took time for Regina to notice Emma and the only reason that she ever did notice her was because shortly after working in Regina's company, two months to be exact, Emma had become her most promising prospect. The blonde, though a bit socially awkward and very much of an introvert, was simply brilliant. She was hard working, staying later nights than Regina most times, and my did she know how to hold her own against some of Regina's top officials.

 

Yes, that was when Regina actually looked at Emma and saw something more than a timid little blonde aimlessly floating around her corridors... But still, two months after Emma Swan began working for Regina Mills, was not what began this at all. For, Regina still didn't leave lingering touches on Emma's forearm, there were no long pauses filled with tensions, and Regina still didn't lean in closer whenever Emma spoke.

 

No, none of those charged filled moments were happening, but two months later, all of those subtle little gestures that weren't happening before, began to happen. And they made Emma feel just as she did upon her and Regina's very first meeting.

 

Four months after working for Regina Mills, Emma Swan found herself sitting in her boss's living room. She took in everything, feeling almost like a small child at Walt Disney World seeing all that it had to offer for the first time.

 

Everything was so her.

 

Emma didn't ever stop to think about what Regina's home may have looked like, but she imagined that if she did, her brain wouldn't have been able to conjure up something so eloquent anyway.

 

"Do you like what you see?" Came Regina's velvety voice as she sashayed from the kitchen area holding two glasses of red wine. The blonde, caught off guard, jolted a little finding it embarrassing that her boss had just caught her gawking at everything as if she'd never seen nice things before.

 

"It's nice in here." Emma said lowly. 

 

“You have good taste.” Regina smirked and offered her bearings. "Wine?"

 

The blonde visibly shivered and stepped back when Regina's eyes seemed to take in the length of her body. It was new territory for her, to get this sort of attention from Regina, and it was nerve wrecking to say the least. "Um, no thank you." She declined. "I don't think that I would be very helpful if I begin to drink." Emma let out a nervous laugh, as she mentally berated herself for that response.

 

The brunette cocked her hip to the side and tilted her head. Emma felt like Regina was studying her and maybe she was. Regina would be lying if she denied that her interest was piqued in every way. "Oh, don't be such a tease. We'll get plenty of work done. One glass of wine won't spoil you dear." With a head tilt to the couch, as an invitation to join her, Emma didn't really have a fighting chance, because it was clear that Regina wouldn't take no for an answer.

 

"Okay..." Emma mumbled needlessly as she sat as close to her end of the couch as she possibly could. She placed her laptop on the coffee table that was conveniently placed right in front of them, and tried to think about everything that was different in this moment. Regina had never been so attentive to her before. 

 

“Ms. Swan, I’m not…” Regina started but then she lost it as she began to chuckle. “I won’t bite you or anything.”

 

The blonde’s eyes widened on their own accord before she sent a nervous glance towards Regina. Emma didn’t quite understand that statement. “Alright.” She gave a curt nod.

 

When Emma sat firmly in her spot, continuing to set up camp as she opened her MacBook and began to logon, Regina had to fight the urge to suck her teeth. And instead of doing so, she sat both of the wine glasses down and moved closer to where Emma was sitting, since the blonde didn’t seem to catch her hint.

 

Emma side eyed the other woman as she tried to only focus on her computer. “Ahem, I… I uh-“ She turned to fully face Regina and when she did, she was thrown off by the look in the brunette’s eyes, it caused her to dry swallow. “H-here’s what I came up with last night.” She blinked a few times as Regina seemingly leaned in closer to stare at the computer screen.

 

The brunette blindly reached to grab the drinks and she handed one to Emma as she watched the video in amusement. “Loosen up.” She whispered a little too close to the blonde’s ear.

 

Emma regarded the drink, but she didn’t take it, at least not at first she didn’t. She still wanted to refuse, but she felt as though she suddenly needed it. She was sure that if she didn’t take it, she would make a fool of herself one way or another at some point, that, and also she was really no match for Regina.

 

Because if Regina Mills was offering something, anything, the option to decline was never really an option at all.

 

So, Emma took the drink and Regina’s smirk grew a little broader. “Good girl.” She purred something menacing, and all the blonde could do in response was cradle her drink as she drank the smoky liquid inside.

 

The video wasn't very long, so it didn't give Emma much time to gather herself if she needed to. Besides, Regina had been sitting impossibly close to her the entire time anyway. She could barely focus on drinking her alcohol properly.

 

“Brilliant.” Regina stated after the video ended and screen went black. “I’ll be expecting the revised version on my desk in, let’s say a week maybe?”

 

“You’re going to use my idea?” Emma asked sounding more hopeful than she intended to.

 

Regina gave one slow nod as she sucked in her lips. “Considering that you’ve been the only person to come up with an idea that will definitely give us a fighting chance, I’d say yes. I’m almost positive that it will be your idea we will use to show at the conference.”

 

Emma felt proud of herself. Though, she had only been working at this company for a little over four months, she had accomplished so much. Practically everyone knew her name, and that’s not to say that she liked the attention, it’s just to say that she herself was actually something to talk about, and that was impressive.

 

“So…” Regina sucked in a lung full of air through her nose. “Tell me something.” The blonde couldn't quite sense what had changed, but something has definitely shifted in Regina's demeanor after she asked that question.

 

“Something like what?” Emma scrunched her nose.

 

“Tell me something about yourself, of course.”

 

The blonde shrugged her shoulders and looked off to the side. “I’m not, I mean there’s not much to know.” She giggled, and surely that was to be attributed to the oncoming effects of the alcohol. 

 

“Nonsense…” Regina waved her hand before placing her glass down and scooting impossibly close to the blonde. “I want to know everything, even the things you don’t normally share with people.” The way Regina looked at her made Emma feel like she was the only person in the room, which was a silly thought to have, considering that she was indeed the only person other than Regina. But, still, there was just something about the way Regina gazed at her that made her feel like she was someone that held importance.

 

Emma flashed an incredulous look as she took a nervous gulp of her wine. “Well… there’s not really much to tell.” And she played with the fabric of her shirt with her free hand. “What about you?”

 

“Well what about me, dear?” Regina asked with raised eyebrows.

 

“Tell me things about you… things you wouldn’t normally tell people, like your secrets I guess.” She took more sips of her alcohol.

 

Regina seemed to contemplate that before turning to face forward in her seat. “I wouldn’t say that I have secrets, Ms. Swan… just that I don’t tell people very many things about myself to begin with. So to direct that request back at me would be the equivalent of you asking me to tell you my entire life story.”

 

“We have time.” Emma chirped and that caused Regina to send the blonde more of a smile rather than a smirk.

 

“What if I said that there are things about me that aren’t so pretty? Would you still want to know?”

 

“Yes.” The blonde answered without thinking. “Y-you don’t have to impress me." She concluded.

 

"Oh, I think I do Ms. Swan."

 

"Why would you though?"

 

Regina squinted at her slightly before she reached to grab the glass from Emma's hand, finishing off the last of its contents. "I'm not sure yet."

 

The whole exchange in combination with her wine made Emma feel queasy. She was a bit of a lightweight when it came to drinking and truth be told she was feeling intoxicated in more ways than one. "You don't have to..." Her sentence broke when she caught sight of Regina's tongue darting out to lick blood red lips. "Impress me that is." Emma managed to say with her eyes still trained on Regina's lips.

 

Pause. There was an electrifying silence, charged by their close proximity and definitely by the way Regina was looking at Emma. Starved, the blonde thought, Regina looked like she could simply devour her in that moment. The affect it had on her was both thrilling and terrifying.

 

"Are you afraid of me, Ms. Swan?" Because Regina just needed to ask.

 

"No." Emma answered soft, but firmly.

 

"Do I intimidate you then?"

 

"Yes." She answered in the same manner that she did before.

 

"Do I make you nervous?"

 

Emma felt herself getting hot, not in a sexual way, but in a way that was causing small beads of perspiration to form on her forehead. "You do." She conceded.

 

"Why?"

 

"Uh..." Her eyes darted around the room, in search of a possible escape route, because Regina was simply too close, Emma wasn't drunk enough for this, and everything was simply nerve wrecking. "Can I have-" the blonde pointed to Regina's unfinished glass of Merlot.

 

The brunette turned to grab the object but moved right back to her position next to Emma. "So, tell me dear."

 

Emma drank before she answered, maybe it was a way to stall while she came up with something suitable to say or maybe it was because she needed the liquid encouragement to accept the kind of attention Regina was giving her.

 

"Slow down." The brunette purred as she placed her hand atop of Emma's and lowered the glass, staring intently at the blonde's lips as she did so. "You'll have time to finish it." And in that moment Emma realized just how close they'd actually become, and it caused her stomach to do summer salts.

 

So close their breath began to mix, so close that Emma could feel the heat radiating off of Regina's body, close enough for either one of them to lean in a small distance and their lips would be connected.

 

"I... I think I should go." The blonde spluttered nervously.

 

"You've been drinking... Stay." Brown eyes practically seduced green ones the longer they kept their proximity. "You can't drive like this."

 

Emma's breath hitched and she felt fluttering in her chest. This was why Regina made her nervous, it was simply the fact that she was able to sway the blonde in any direction she wanted her to go and she didn't even have to try. Regina didn't have to try.

 

And for a horrifying second Emma was sure that Regina was going to disregard the space between them and kiss her, but that was something she simply could not handle. So when Regina's eyes fluttered shut, as a tell-tale sign that she was indeed going to kiss Emma, the blonde panicked and shot up out of the her seat.

 

The brunette's eyebrows furrowed immediately in confusion as she stared up at Emma, trying to figure out if she had tried to make her move much too quickly, much too soon. "You...?" She started, but she realized who she was talking to when she saw the frightened look on Emma's face. So she clamped her mouth shut, biting the inside of her cheek. "You're different Ms. Swan."She concluded.

 

Emma didn't know what that meant or what anything Regina had done tonight meant. She only knew that she wasn't staying. She would walk the ten miles it took to get to her own home from here, barefoot if she had to, but she wasn't staying. "I-I should probably--"

 

"Leaving so soon?" Two sets of eyes, a pair of green ones and a pair of brown ones, zeroed in on the third figure, who had impressively managed to enter the apartment without Emma or Regina even noticing.

 

"Who are you?" Emma asked softly.

 

"What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting you for at least another..." Regina trailed off as she fixed her wristwatch to see the time.

 

"Hour? Yes, well I thought I would surprise you. I wasn't under the impression that you would be having guests over." Emma shifted her stance not liking how the man seemed to bask in the sight of her. He almost made her feel just as small as Regina made her feel. Almost. "Unless-"

 

"Don't." Regina warned once she saw how the newcomer was eying Emma. "It's not like that... Ms. Swan was just gathering her things to leave."

 

I was? Emma almost blurted out, because Regina seemed to change too quickly and it wasn't that Emma didn't want to leave, because she still did. It was just that now it seemed more like she was being kicked out rather than leaving on her own will. And surely that hadn't been the case a minute ago.

 

"Oh no," He smiled a menacingly charming smile. "Perhaps she should stay."

 

"She will be leaving." The brunette flashed the man a pointed glare before she stood to face Emma. "I will see you at work tomorrow." She breathed softly before she reached out to straighten the collar of the blonde's blouse. She was leaning in closely again, almost as if there some sort of magnetic pull between the two or like she was going to say something too private for the stranger to hear. "Please drive safely, no accidents. I want you in one piece when I see you again."

 

Regina's eyes darted down to the blonde's lips for a second time that evening before she found green eyes once more.

 

"O-okay." Emma nodded nervously before stepping just out of Regina's reach. "I'll work on-" she reached down and shoved her laptop in its sleeve. "-the video tonight. Maybe I can have the revisions done by morning."

 

"You're much too much sometimes." Was all she spoke before she gave Emma a glimpse of a lasting smirk and motioned for Emma leave.

 

The blonde practically scurried to the door, but she didn't make it out so easily. "Robin Hood." The man stated as he stepped directly in Emma's way. "And who might you be?"

 

"Em-"

 

"Ms. Swan." The blonde heard Regina's unamused voice coming from behind her. "That is the name you will refer to her as. Ms. Swan." And for some reason Emma felt like Regina was threatening him, Robin Hood, or maybe she was sending him a warning. For what? The blonde didn't not know, nor did she care to find out.

 

Robin simply looked scathing as he nodded resolutely. "Whatever you say, your majesty." He mocked as he did a small bow towards Regina. "I'm going to make myself a drink. Safe travels, Em."

 

The blonde gulped and continued out the door. Her insides rejoiced when she finally made it to her car and pulled out of her parking space without further interruptions. There was just something about Regina, that simply unsettled her in more ways than one. She tried to figure it out, thinking that maybe it was the way Regina looked at her, the way she spoke to her, or maybe the way she almost kissed her. Or maybe it was a combination of all of those things. This was all just so new. Just yesterday, Emma was still convinced that Regina didn't like her, and now tonight... Well Emma still thought that Regina wasn't too keen on her but something had definitely changed.

 

 **The** **Middle**

 

Emma's head jolted up to find the culprit who nearly scared her half to death. It was a soft knock on her office door that did it, but the blonde had been so consumed in her work that any sign of disturbance, even the most minute, was enough to give her early signs of a heart attack.

 

"Oh my, I didn't mean to startle you. I just- I was just coming in to introduce myself."

 

The blonde inhaled deeply, before she gave a quick head shake and a hand motion. "It's fine. I should probably pay more attention to my surroundings." She mumbled before she shut her laptop and pushed it aside. She took this moment to take in the woman, who was still standing in her doorway. She was new, she looked new.

 

"I like... Your red hair." She offered lamely, awkwardly. But the woman didn't seem to mind Emma's slight social disconnect, in fact, the smile that she offered the blonde in response was encouraging enough to make Emma smile back at her.

 

"Thank you. I'm Ariel by the way." She walked over with an extended hand and Emma stood and shook it. 

 

"Emma Swan." The blonde offered. "And as pleasant as it is to make your acquaintance... Uh, what are you doing here?" The blonde wished, sometimes, rare times like this one when she actually caught herself, that she could convey exactly how she felt with words, without it sounding so gray. She wished that she could say things just like everyone else and not have to blush from embarrassment most times. "That came out wrong."

 

Ariel fanned the air and offered the blonde a warm smile anyway. "That's okay, I get it." She turned to sit in the only chair Emma had placed in front of her desk for visitors. "I'm here because, I'm a gift." The redhead smiled, and Emma looked at her through confused filled eyes. "I mean, I'm your gift." She corrected, but still there was no clarity.

 

"You're a gift to me? From who?"

 

"Me of course."

 

Emma felt like her heart stopped and then started again as Regina walked in and the memories of last night came flooding in with her. The blonde had simply left, and though it wasn’t the best way to end their time together. She was unsure of what Regina had expected her to do. The brunette had simply fallen asleep afterwards and Emma, had a thought that maybe Regina wouldn’t want her to be there in the morning— but Emma was barely an expert on people’s feelings.

 

Green eyes landed on Regina’s face and stayed there, unable to look away. "But, why? What am I supposed to do with her?"

 

Regina stood next to Ariel, who was seated in her chair, and stared at Emma with a look, the look, an indescribable look that Regina began to grace her with a few months back, but it was utilized so much that the affect Emma felt from it was becoming to feel familiar to her.

 

A shiver ran down her spine. "Cold Ms. Swan?"

 

"Um... Ariel?" Emma motioned at the other woman, completely ignoring Regina's question. "What is all of this about?”

 

"Right," Regina let her eyes linger on Emma before she looked down at Ariel. "She is simply your new assistant. That's all... I've just noticed how busy you've been around here and I wanted you to have an outlet incase you ever wanted to make yourself... More available."

 

"But why would I need to be more available?" Emma questioned, not really seeing a need for an assistant. Grateful, she was for the gesture, but it was unnecessary. Regina smirked at her and motioned for Ariel to leave. The redhead did so without question, closing the door behind her.

 

The energy in the room shifted instantly. Regina was bearable with someone else in their presence but everything felt so— charged when it was just the two of them. "Oh, I don't know." Regina sighed and walked around Emma’s desk, perching herself on the corner of it and staring down at Emma in a superior fashion. "You weren’t in my bed this morning.” She said it rather poised as if she hadn’t been affected by the gesture at all, and Emma thought that maybe she hadn’t been. But then why was she bringing it up?

 

“Yea, I just thought-“

 

“Well you were wrong Ms. Swan— again.” Again? And Regina sat quietly as Emma tried to decipher what that meant. “What is it that you think of me?” Her eyebrows furrowed and Regina stared at Emma in an almost intent manner.

 

Emma looked up at her, possessing the innocence that only she could have, and dry swallowed. Because what did she think of Regina Mills, her boss, the woman who seemingly hated her guts once now to the woman who seemingly— doesn’t hate her guts? “I don’t know.” The blonde shrugged and fiddled with her fingers. She’d never thought about it, but her brain always seemed to stop working in Regina’s presence. “What do you think of me?”

 

“I think that you avoid too many of my questions and turn them back around on me.” She said as she slid off the desk and green eyes followed her every movement. Emma watched as Regina stalked to the door, giving the illusion that she was going to leave, but instead the blonde heard a click, her boss had locked them in.

 

Immediately Emma could feel her heart race, adrenaline was coursing through her veins. It’s as if Regina was sending out invisible wavelengths to her. Her body had known well before her brain did.

 

“I think that you’re much too tense around me.” She drawled in a sultry manner as she stalked over to Emma, taking her completely by surprise. Emma thought for a split second that Regina wanted to get back at her for leaving without telling her, and maybe that’s exactly what this was in a way.

 

Regina pushed Emma’s chair away from her desk and dropped to her knees between the blonde’s legs. “I think that you think the worst of me.” She said softly. And had the blonde’s brain not stopped working already maybe she would have caught the care in Regina’s eyes or the softness in her touch. “And I don’t know how to change that.” She shrugged softly before pushing up Emma’s skirt and positioning one of the blonde’s legs over the side of the chair.

 

“But maybe it’s best that you keep these walls between us.”

 

Regina wasn’t making any sense, and Emma barely cared. For some reason the image of Regina on her knees was doing something to her. She felt a stirring in the pit of her stomach and wetness pool between her legs. Regina had never lowered herself in a position of submissiveness, not even last night. She had always been the one on top. Emma has just taken whatever, and done whatever her boss wanted.

 

But now was a vast contrast to that.

 

Regina didn’t bother to remove Emma’s panties she simply moved them to the side and—

 

“Oh..” Emma said breathily as her hands immediately found a home in dark brown tresses and held her close. Green eyes fell behind heavy lids as she felt Regina’s mouth latch onto her. Emma has never felt anything like this before. It felt— Regina felt— more, she wanted more. Her breath quickened as her boss switched from quick flicks of her tongue to slow deliberate sucking. And Emma nearly screamed out in pleasure.

 

She couldn’t control the way she held Regina’s head firmly to her sex and she began to thrust frantically in her mouth. And had she been remotely competent her brain would’ve told her to be embarrassed by these actions, but it all felt too good. And Emma’s legs were clenching around Regina’s head as she came.

 

Emma sat there with her legs open as Regina eased her down from her orgasm and she thought about the fact that she may be falling in love with Regina. Her eyes stayed focused on the ceiling even after she felt Regina pull away from her. She couldn’t fall in love with this woman. Emma was sure the pain she’d endure would not be worth it. Regina was the predator and Emma was the prey. The blonde had to remember that.

 

And she had to remind herself of that again when she finally looked down into warm brown eyes and saw the way Regina was looking at her. She looked at Emma as if—

 

Regina looked at her as if she were the most valuable thing in sight.

 

Regina looked at her as if she could see something that Emma Swan herself couldn’t see.

 

Regina looked at Emma as if she were the one to have something to fear.

 

And the blonde could not make up her mind on which one of those things scared her most. Which one of those things would be her undoing and her inevitable downfall.

 

“You have to be at a cocktail party tonight.” Regina said after straightening herself out. “I can’t accompany you, but I have confidence that you’ll hold your own just fine.”

 

The blonde barely processed any of the words that were being thrown at her. She simply sat there muted and moved by what just transpired between them and how easy it was for Regina to slip back into business mode.

 

“Mr. Gold will be there, be sure to be on your best behavior.” She said as she placed a hand on the door handle. “And don’t talk to Maleficent.” And those were the parting words that Emma sat with for the rest of the day.

 

X

 

Maybe she should have actually listened to what Regina had said earlier about Maleficent.— she was vexing and cold in a way that Regina could never compare to.

 

“So you’re Regina’s grand plan then?” The older woman laughed, and then she laughed some more, right to Emma’s face. Maleficent wasn’t a predator she was much worse. She was daunting, teasing— someone who tortured and reveled in the pain.

 

Emma felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Regina told her that she’d been special, she used Emma’s ideas without hesitation, she went to Emma before she’d go to anybody else. So she had no reason to doubt herself now in the face of Maleficent when Regina had done everything already to ensure Emma’s confidence.

 

Yet there she was quivering like a small child in the eyes of her adversary. “I think my dog may have a better chance at partnering with the Gold Foundation than you do.” She sipped her wine as if dishing out insults were her normal means of communication. Completely unbothered by the paleness of Emma’s face. “She’s sleeping with you isn’t she?”

 

Icy blue eyes reveled in the way Emma’s features seemed to fill with dread and a wicked smile spread across her lips. “Oh this is rich. Someone should really tell that girl to stop mixing business with pleasure.” She chuckled into her glass.

 

“She’s not.” The blonde finally mustered— rather weakly.

 

Maleficent scoffed and drank more of her wine. “Yes because your facial features didn’t just tell me everything I needed to know.”

 

“We haven’t done anything.” Emma insisted a bit more calm this time around, and that must not have been the answer Maleficent had wanted, because she turned to Emma with a perfectly manicured eyebrow arched in a questioning fashion.

 

And this had been why Regina told Emma to stay away from her. Because when Maleficent wanted something and it wasn’t offered to her nicely, she had a means of taking it by force. Regina was well aware and prepared for Maleficent’s tactics, Emma, however was not.

 

“Regina must not have told you who I am.”

 

“You’re our-“

 

“No, darling. I am not her biggest competitor.” She chuckled menacingly. “That would be Gold over there.” Her long skinny finger pointed across the room to Mr. Gold who was chatting with a few other businessmen. “It’s why you’re trying to partner with him, because he’s the only real threat to Regina’s company. But do you know the real reason she needs you to pull through on this deal? Do you know the real reason she told you to stay away from me?”

 

Emma gulped, because she didn’t know, but she was about to find out.

 

“I’m her wife sugar. And I think I know when she’s stepping out on me. I mean haven’t you met Robin Hood?”

 

She had, and she felt as if she would vomit suddenly.

 

“And I’m sure that if she never told you about me, then surely she never told you the real reason why she needs Gold to partner with her, has she?”

 

Emma felt her resolve cracking as she struggled to stand tall, even though she’d just realized she had been made out to be the fool. So this was it then, the pivotal moment she had been expecting. The moment when all of Emma’s suspicions were confirmed and it turned out that Regina was indeed the bad guy after all.

 

“You should ask her about our son.”

 

X

 

 **The** **End**

 

Emma was frantic as she threw the items on her desk into the cardboard box that janitorial services had given her. A loud sound of the thunder tore through the building and she couldn’t help but think that it was fitting. The down pour of rain and the tumultuous weather.

 

It matched her tear stained cheeks and her stricken heart.

 

“So you spoke to Maleficent then?”

 

Emma jolted at the sound of Regina’s voice. She was standing there leaning up against the wall with her arms folded over her chest. She didn’t look alarmed or guilty of anything that Maleficent had said. She didn’t even seem to mind that Emma was packing up her things to leave.

 

“Wow, I must really look like an idiot.” Emma scoffed before swiping carelessly at her eyes.

 

“What do you want me to say? I told you not to talk to her.” Regina said, and Emma looked at her and in that moment she wondered who was truly more scathing— Maleficent or Regina?

 

The blonde felt something shatter in her chest, but it couldn’t have been her heart because she had been careful not to do that thing that she said she wouldn’t do. You know, the thing that she kept reminding herself about.

 

“You asked me what I think of you.” Emma said as she threw the last item that belonged to her in the box and stared straight into Regina’s eyes. “But I was too afraid to say before, or maybe it was because I didn’t know what I thought of you, but now—“

 

She said walking across the office. “I thought you were someone to be feared, someone who was fierce and brave, someone that I could—“

 

The blonde shook her head in defiance, refusing to declare anything to Regina. “I think that you’re a coward. And I don’t buy into this version of you.— she’s not real.”

 

X

 

Four days later, when Emma had answered her apartment door, she nearly slammed it shut again, but the foot in her doorway kept that from happening.

 

“Give me two minutes to explain everything, and then after that if you still want nothing to do with me then I’ll walk away and you’ll never hear from me again.” Regina looked— nothing like herself. And she was pleading to Emma of all people.

 

Those brown eyes were begging and the blonde couldn’t find it in herself to say no or yes for that matter. “Start talking Regina, your two minutes are dwindling.”

 

“Maleficent is not my wife.” She started calmly. “She’s my ex-wife, and the fact that you would believe her without even talking to me first has been tormenting me for the past four days.” She said softly. “I needed to partner with Gold so that I could win the custody of my son. Without this deal I have to file for bankruptcy... and when I file I lose everything. I’ll be ruled as an unfit parent and Maleficent is trying for full custody. Just because she’s bitter. And I wasn’t sleeping with Robin Hood, contrary to what she thinks. I never slept with him- why do you think he was looking at you the way he did that night?” She sighed in frustration. “He was helping me look over my finances, just as he has always done.”

 

Regina shrugged and wrapped her arms around her midsection. There were tears building in her eyes as she teetered on the edge of a breakdown. “You were my chance, Emma. You were going to save everything.— you were going to give me everything without even knowing it, and I-“

 

She huffed and brushed away a tear that had slipped from her eye on its own accord. “I was falling in love with you. But you made me out to be the bad guy this entire time. You painted a different picture of me than the one I tried so desperately to show you and the moment you were able to prove yourself right, you ran away from me. You casted me out of your life so easily.”

 

And Emma looked at her with a renewed sense of horror, because when had Regina Mills ever looked this fragile before? When had she ever made herself small for someone else?

 

“And you don’t get to look at me as if you’re still afraid of me... as if I’m the one that went and broke your heart. You just don’t get to.”

 

“I was never the monster Emma... and neither were you. But you were always the dangerous one, the wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing. At least I had the decency to show you my sharp edges. What hurts me the most about you is that I never expected... I never thought you could be this way. Cold and aloof, yet here we are... and now I’ve lost everything. My son, my business and- you.”

 

And by now her time had expired a while ago. Regina’s heart felt heavier than it had ever felt before. "The focus was on me, Emma Swan, the task of not breaking your heart had always been mine and mine alone to burden. The pressure behind that was unreal sometimes, and I tried to spare you. But in the end, it was inevitable... I still hurt you, and rest assured Ms. Swan, I am paying for it. I just thought you should know, in case you hated me after this.”

 

And she didn’t give Emma the chance to respond. She didn’t give Emma the chance to make amends. When Regina walked away from Emma, she didn’t spare a second glance.

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve never written an ending like this, so I’m not sure how well received it’ll be. When I originally wrote this story it was meant to be heavy on the angst but still a happy ending. It was also supposed to be a multi chapter fic. But I hope it was at least enjoyable. Thank you for reading.


End file.
